Inside Track
Cats shade it at the death but Tipp looking real deal
Inside Track with John McIntyre
WHEN Kilkenny were removed from last year’s championship by the Rebels – very prematurely by their standards – the logical conclusion was that the Cats were a force in serious decline.
Having already lost a replay to Dublin in the provincial title race and completing their campaign without even playing in Croke Park, it was undoubtedly the county’s worst summer under Brian Cody.
That day against Cork in the All-Ireland quarter-final in Thurles, Kilkenny looked a battle weary outfit even if the dismissal of Henry Shefflin on a second yellow card conspired heavily against them. Earlier in the year, Cody had to take a backseat from team preparations due to health issues, leading to intense speculation last autumn that he would step down as Kilkenny boss after occupying the role since 1999.
The future of long serving players such as Shefflin, JJ Delaney, Jackie Tyrell, Brian Hogan, Eoin Larkin, Aidan Fogarty and Tommy Walsh was also a source of debate, especially as new champions Clare were all about pace and movement. There must have been some private agonising about the wisdom of continuing on but, like their manager, they have all returned for at least one more campaign. A stubborn bunch these Kilkenny fellas!
Of course, we have long known that this Kilkenny team doesn’t conspire to normal standards. Nine All-Ireland titles in 13 years, including a notable four-in-a row, it’s understandable why Cody and Shefflin in particular aren’t letting go when in sight of a record-breaking ten championship triumphs. It’s admittedly a tantalising prospect and a once in a lifetime opportunity to push the boundaries of hurling achievement to a scarcely believable level.
It can be done too as Kilkenny have regrouped rapidly from last year’s championship woes judging by their third consecutive National League success in Thurles last Sunday. Against bitter rivals Tipperary, they achieved an unlikely extra time win despite the home county doing most of the enterprising hurling and possessing the more influential individuals. It was a victory somewhat achieved against the head, but that’s what Kilkenny do – they are hard to put away and know how to win.
If you were told beforehand that of their six starting forwards, Shefflin, Mark Kelly, and TJ Reid would fail to score from play in normal time and that another two, Colin Fennelly, a disputed effort, and Richie Power, would only raise a solitary white flag each, you’d find it difficult to credit that it was Tipperary who were forced to pull all the stops to force extra time. For large tracts of the match, Kilkenny were struggling to keep tabs on Eamon O’Shea’s men but, typically, they managed to hang in there.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.